Former UAW official pleads guilty to accepting kickbacks

Former United Auto Workers vice president Joseph Ashton pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud as part of a wide-ranging federal corruption probe into the union. Ashton, a former General Motors Co board member, was charged last month with conspiring with other union officials to receive “hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks” according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit. Ashton, when asked by the judge whether he was pleading guilty because he was guilty, responded “Yes, your honor.” He declined to comment after the brief hearing.